WSJ: President declares end of global warming debate, while climate scientists struggle to explain the 'pause'

PRESIDENT DECLARES END OF GLOBAL WARMING DEBATE
More from the State of the Union address: President Obama contended that "the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact." But fascinatingly, the president's certainty comes at a time when even leading climate scientists are struggling to account for the almost-total absence of global warming over the past 16 years. Perhaps the march toward ever-higher global average temperatures will resume. But whether it does or not, climate scientists are already having to account for greater natural variability and other mitigating factors as they seek to explain why increasing CO2 concentrations have not led monotonically to higher average temperatures.

...AND TAKES CREDIT FOR BOOM IN FOSSIL FUELS
A Journal editorial notes that much of Mr. Obama's speech "tried to address the economic insecurity that his own policies have done so much to create. Thus the odd combination of claiming credit for the recovery, even for the domestic oil boom he has resisted, while fretting about stagnant wages for "the middle class." Speaking of last night, the Washington Post has an interesting chart illustrating how the frequency of certain words in the State of the Union has changed over time.